View full sizeU.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, the new chairman of the House Ethics Committee, says that even though most members of Congress may privately wish the Office of Congressional Ethics would be shut down, political realities have made taking such action a difficult thing to do. (Press-Register photo)

WASHINGTON -- The vast majority of U.S. House members privately wish to end the Office of Congressional Ethics, or OCE, a controversial independent watchdog agency put in place by House Democrats in 2008 to monitor Congress, said Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile.

Bonner, now the chairman of Congress’ internal House Ethics Committee, a separate group, said political realities prevented new Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, from making that wish come true when he took power.

“If he had disbanded OCE, he would have instantly become the target of criticism, from both the far left and the far right, that he was not serious when he said that we were going to have zero tolerance on ethical violations,” Bonner said.

Bonner’s House Ethics Committee can only start an investigation of a member of Congress when a complaint is lodged against that person by another member of Congress, or when the committee’s two top members agree to such action.

In contrast, the OCE has less stringent requirements for starting an inquiry -- they can begin an investigation “out of the National Enquirer,” Bonner said -- and the group has raised the ire of factions in Congress across the political spectrum.

House Republicans staunchly opposed the group’s conception a little more than two years ago. And though Democrats created the office in a largely party-line vote, it has aggressively investigated Democrats.

The OCE, which passes its findings to the House Ethics Committee for action, spawned prominent inquiries into members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Reps. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

“Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus, from what I’ve read in the press, have felt that OCE has been more tilted in their investigations of their members,” Bonner said.

The office of the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., did not respond to requests for comment. Cleaver told the New York Times recently that the caucus has concerns with the office and wants “to ensure justice and fairness.”

After Republicans won the House in November’s elections, media reports speculated that they would dissolve the fledgling agency whose creation they had opposed. But Boehner decided to keep it going.

“We’re doing the job Congress asked us to do,” Steinman said. “We were created and began in the 111th Congress, when Democrats were elected to the House, and we’ve been reauthorized in the 112th, when Republicans are running the House.”

Bonner said he thinks most members of Congress have “buyer’s remorse” after creating the agency, and four out of five of its initial supporters would probably vote to disband it -- if those votes weren’t disclosed publicly.

“If there were a secret ballot vote, I think OCE would be a thing of the past, and I think it would be overwhelming,” he said.

Bonner called his committee’s sometimes-rocky relationship with the OCE a “work in progress.” The Mobile congressman initially voted against the group’s creation and said he thinks it may sully the reputation of innocent members of Congress.

But it also has some benefits, according to Bonner.

“I do see some value in having John Q. Public being able to write in ... to report a concern,” Bonner said.

Asked whether he’d vote to dissolve the group if given the chance, Bonner did not answer, saying that he doubts such a vote will take place, now that Boehner has decided to continue the group.

“I voted against creating it, because I didn’t think it was necessary, but the fact is that we have OCE, and I’m now committed to working to try to build a more functional relationship with OCE,” Bonner said.